Mass Effect Calibrations

**AN:** Oh, lord. I should have known that once I did one, my feverish little brain would just run rampant from there. This is ooooh so NSFW. Yeah, yeah, I can practically see the eyerolls at the title and I'm absolutely certain this isn't the first time someone's thought this type of scenario up but, heh, what the hell…'cause hot damn was it fun to write!

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Commander Arian Shepard was (despite what certain parties in the universe might think) a well read and well spoken woman.

Of course, it was a fairly incredible phenomenon even for the lowest of minds to be rendered incapable of coherent speech simply passing through the door of the Main Battery.

It wasn't _her_ fault. By the ship's time cycle, it was late, and she certainly understood (and _highly_ approved of) Garrus not wanting to wear his armor every moment. But how, pray tell, was she supposed to think clearly when he was standing at the console in just the bodysuit that went beneath the armor along with the boots and gauntlets? The man was practically begging to be ravished. If it was anyone else, she would have said it was deliberate, a tease; but this was her turian and he'd obviously started taking the armor off then gotten distracted by something on the console.

Shepard shot a glance over her shoulder and closed the doors behind her. And locked them, just in case. Then she leaned back against them and crossed her arms over her chest, admiring the view.

And what a view. Christ, would you just _look_ at him? There had been several points since their first night together that Arian had tried to remember a time she hadn't been attracted to Garrus. She knew there had been such a time, but she was hard pressed to remember it. The cloth of the bodysuit was thick and reinforced a dozen times over, of course. He needed to be able to move easily but Garrus wouldn't settle for anything that left him vulnerable on the battlefield. He wouldn't have cared that the black set off all that silver plating, that it clung nicely to all those smooth, sweeping lines and sinewy muscles that made him up. That was fine; she could appreciate it enough for both of them.

Garrus growled suddenly, his mandibles flaring. "Getting the cannons optimal shouldn't be this damn difficult," he informed her without looking up.

"You said the cannon was turian designed, yes? I bet it never even occurred to them to add in programming that would fit turian designs." She grinned as he growled again, stripping off the armor from his forearms, then his gloves in quick, impatient movements.

He dropped the gauntlets next to the rest of his armor and turned back to the console. "Cerberus could use a few turians in their midst. Teach them how to build guns properly."

"Considering they'd rather wipe you guys out or take you over, that might not be a good idea."

"Good point. Now that I think about it, I have no objections to their techs staying clueless as long as they keep away from my guns."

Oh, the innuendoes she could turn that into. But she behaved herself and kept quiet.

Oblivious, Garrus tapped out something on the console. "It's like they wanted to make it as difficult as possible to upgrade the guns. Lucky for you, I'm more adaptable."

"Indeed…"

He finally took note of the laughter in her voice and turned to look at her, confused. Shepard cocked an eyebrow, looking him up and down slowly. "Garrus, you look like you're posing for a guns 'n ammo edition of _Fornax_. And I mean that as the highest of compliments."

He blinked at her and then looked down at himself. Either the amusement or the genuine heat in her eyes as she looked at him- or both –made his mandibles draw tight against his jaws in embarrassment. He glanced away and it was pure evil of her to find that even more amusing. Poor Garrus; she'd always taken wicked pleasure in teasing him. It was the only thing that threw him off his stride. It helped that they had not been together for long, and apparently Garrus was having hard time understanding the fact she wanted him as much as she did. She didn't attribute this to her being human so much as the fact Garrus Vakarian didn't have an ounce of vanity anywhere in him. If anything, his sense of self worth didn't come close to matching up with what he really was. She loved that about him and found it exasperating at turns.

Shepard pushed away from the door and moved toward him slowly. Apparently, he couldn't come up with a proper comeback because he continued on about the cannons like she hadn't spoken with a sort of nervous determination: "Could be the Reaper based design that's throwing everything off too. They pulled it off of Sovereign, you know."

She wasn't fooled. He was watching her out of the corner of his eye as she approached. That echoing undertone that rode beneath his voice had become more pronounced, which was a dead giveaway he was turned on. It would get more and more pronounced the more aroused he got. Sometimes she could literally _feel_ the sounds he made right when he came, vibrating along her nerves, and fuck…just thinking about that was making her hot.

But if he wanted to play it out… "I've heard rumors. Mutterings along Alliance channels, mostly." The faintest buzz of dark energy danced around her as she circled behind him, coming up on his other side. She traced her fingers lightly over the back of his cowl; he couldn't really feel it, but the faint pressure made him tense slightly. She dialed the biotics back and swept the static energy from her hair casually before coming up beside him. The back of her hand 'accidentally' brushed against his and she felt him jerk in response to the static spark that often came from physical contact with a biotic. His breath hitched and he looked at her sharply, but she kept her eyes on the information scrolling across the console. "I imagine the Alliance is, of course, outraged anyone would have stolen such a thing from the Reaper…'scuse me, _geth ship_…remains before they managed to."

Garrus' chuckle sounded a bit strained. "Finders keepers, isn't that one of yours?"

"Well played, sir." Shepard looked closer at the console, using the movement to shift closer to him. She brushed a hand over the line of his hip lightly enough it _might_ have been an accident before lifting it to push her hair back away from her face. The movement drew his attention to her neck and this time she felt, more than saw, him draw in a breath. She didn't bother trying to hide the smile that curved her lips. There was a reason she made sure to wear tops around him that left her neck and shoulders bare. There was still energy making her hair stand on end and she combed her fingers through it again, idly rubbing her fingers together to rid them of the sparks.

"You short the console out, I'm not going to be happy, Shepard." Garrus' voice had dropped to a growl and it didn't have anything to do with anger.

She gave him an insolent look. "I've never shorted anything out and you know it." She ran a hand down his thigh openly. "Nothing electrical, anyway."

Garrus cursed and slapped a hand onto the console's controls, shutting it off. He wrapped his arms around her and yanked her back against him, burying his face in her hair. "Tease," he rumbled, the sound making her shiver.

"It really only counts as teasing if I don't intend to follow through on it," she murmured, tilting her head to the side to give him better access. "Of course, I could walk away now and make it a proper tease, if you like."

"Could you?" His voice had a purring edge she'd never heard before. It sent heat spearing through her, making her legs weak. Garrus licked along the line of her jaw, trailing down her neck. She could feel him hard as iron against her when he used his hips to press hers against the edge of the console.

"Maybe…" she murmured for the sake of pushing him just a little more. She'd seen glimpses of this side of him before and she wanted to see more of it. Wise? Probably not, but she couldn't help herself.

He ran the tips of his teeth along the curve of her shoulder, one hand sliding down along her body, slipping beneath the waistband of her pants. She let her head fall back against his shoulder and his free arm tightened around her waist as he stroked his fingers in idle circles between her legs. "How about now?"

"Garrus…"

"This is what you do to me…" He moved his hips against hers, nuzzling her, pressing the middle talon in deeper, brushing her clit lightly. She jerked in his arms, her hips moving as much as he would allow them to. He made a pleased sound against her neck. "You're wet..."

"That's what you do to me," she said, her voice hoarse. She arched in his hold with a gasp. He was grinding against her by then, his hips moving with the same rhythm as his hand between her legs. He nuzzled her ear, murmuring her name, that echo in his voice making her tremble. One thing you could say about Garrus was that he was a quick study. He knew exactly how to touch her, the pad of his finger brushing her in slow strokes, the very edges of dull claws brushing tender flesh. She gripped the edge of the console desperately, moving back against him, her entire body seizing up as she came. Garrus nipped her shoulder, the talons of his free hand raking down her waist with sudden passion, hard enough to leave red welts on her skin.

Arian slumped over the console, dazed. At first she was only vaguely aware of him shifting behind her. She didn't know how much of his own clothing he'd gotten off but she felt plating and hot skin against her back when he pressed against her. She tried to push herself up on her arms, look back at him, but he dug his talons into her hips, tilting them slightly as he pulled her pants down completely. Her fingers curled over the top of the console and she arched her back, anticipation making her breath come out in quick pants. He licked the back of her neck and she felt the hard, ridged length of him against her a moment before he drove into her in one fierce thrust. That dizzying mixture of pain and pleasure tore a low cry from her throat.

Garrus went tense, sliding his hands up to cover hers where they gripped the console's edge. His mouth brushed her ear again, one mandible flicking along her jaw. "Am I hurting you?" His voice was hoarse and she could feel him shaking with the effort of holding back. "Arian?"

She turned her head, running her lips along his mandible until she felt the plating give way to the skin of his neck. She nipped him hard enough to make his body jerk, managing to speak with some effort: "Harder."

Garrus made a low sound deep in his chest, his hands tightening almost painfully over hers before he ran them down her arms, over her sides, gripping her hips. He buried his face against her neck and started moving again, fucking her with long, hard strokes that made red haze her vision. So good…there was nothing that she could have imagined that would have prepared her for this. God, the sounds he was making, the feel of him losing control were almost as good as the feel of him inside her. She moved with him, her head bowing forward. "Don't stop…" She was begging him and didn't give a fuck. "Garrus, yes…_yes…"_ She came again, so hard it almost hurt, every muscle in her body seeming to clench up.

He pulled her back against him. "Do that again." It was a demand, plain and simple. His hand was between her legs again, stroking her. Too much…she slipped her arms back, moving helplessly now, sliding her hands along his crest. She thought she could hear herself begging him to stop and never to stop in the same breath but she wasn't capable of making sense at the moment. He tangled the fingers of his free hand into her hair, pulling her head back until her mouth was pressed to his, his tongue thrusting between her lips. "Again."

"Garrus…"

"Come with me." He nipped her lips, merciless, sounding as crazed as she felt. He was driving her up to the edge again which was probably going to kill her and who the hell cared? "I want to feel you, every inch of you…mine." He pressed his face to her neck again, his hold on her tightening, desperation edging his voice now. "Just like that…Arian…yes…"

"_Garrus!"_ She arched wildly in his hold, her climax _raking_ through her this time and dragging him along with her. He said her name again and again, his breath hot against her skin, clutching her possessively.

She had no idea if he drew her to the floor or if she dragged him, she just became aware they were sprawled there slowly as she learned how to breathe again. She was vaguely aware of his hands stroking over her and her own running up and down his arms. When Garrus finally stirred and slipped out of her, she winced slightly, pain finally piercing the haze around her brain. Garrus sat up, turning her onto her back. She took in the alarm in his eyes and glanced down at herself, assessing the damage.

Well, he'd truly torn her the hell up, hadn't he? Bemused, she traced her fingers down her body, taking in the red welts that ran up and down her sides, the bloody furrows at her hips and the ache between her legs that was going to make it hard to walk for a few days. "Good thing we don't have a mission planned…"

"Shepard, I…"

"I think my brains are leaking out my ears." She ran her fingers over them, just to check.

"I'm sor-"

"For what, now?" She slipped an arm around his neck and traced her lips along his unscarred mandible. "I don't want to hear any apologies from you, Vakarian. I started it, didn't I?"

"I hurt you." He ran his fingers through her hair, unable to stop himself from flicking his tongue across her lips.

"You hurt me _good_, Garrus." Her voice was a purr. She stroked her hand beneath his crest, trying to soothe him, her eyes locking with his. "I loved it, do you understand me? Loved. It. Every _second_."

She saw the flare of heat in his eyes, heard the soft rumble he made in response. He cradled her against him, murmuring her name, holding her for a long moment.

He finally rose to get medi-gel, and Shepard lay back, stretching languidly. She sat up with some care when he came back, letting him tend to her since they both needed it. She let out a little sigh when he cleaned and smoothed medi-gel over the wounds on her hips. They were the worst ones, she judged. And far from the worst she'd ever had, thank you very much. She gave him a slow smile. "Not an ounce of tension anywhere."

He chuckled, letting his forehead rest against hers for a moment. "You're too much, Shepard."

She stroked a hand down his face. "You wouldn't want me any other way."

"Not by a long shot."


End file.

Mass Effect, Romance, Sci-Fi